Slippages between the picture plane and the painting surface. An analysis, through a body of paintings, of specular highlights, proximal spaces and the Lacanian gaze
- Submitting institution
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Liverpool Hope University
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- DM22C
- Type
- T - Other
- DOI
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- Location
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- Brief description of type
- Portfolio
- Open access status
- Out of scope for open access requirements
- Month
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- Year
- 2014
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
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- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- The aim of this pioneering practice-based research project was to examine how specular highlights and proximal spaces, when perceived through the Lacanian gaze, might confound our perception of Cartesian perspectivalism in representational painting. This research question and the methodology used explore a never before researched area of painting theory and practice and is thus distinct in the field.
This body of paintings has been disseminated through 23 peer reviewed exhibitions (eight were Arts Council Funded) to over 105,000 people. This included the John Moore’s Painting Prize exhibition in 2016, where it won the Visitor’s Choice Award (voted by over 10,000 people). This exhibition is world renowned as the exemplar survey of contemporary painting for the last 60 years.
In practical terms I firstly constructed sculptural maquettes. I then photographed, edited and collaged images of these maquettes together with found imagery on digital image editing programmes. I subsequently painted from these digital collages using a protracted process involving traditional monochrome underpainting and glazing, taking over a year to complete each painting. This investigative painting process is an innovative amalgamation of sculpture, digital media and historical painting techniques.
The significance of this body of paintings is evidenced by 12 citations in printed and online publications as well as and 19 invited public talks (slides 28-30 in Powerpoint). These publications and talks explored the novel research methodology involved in creating the body of paintings. The original contribution to knowledge is that the paintings act as a pioneering nexus between several interlinked ways of seeing. By analysing and mapping theoretical concerns that I derived from my body of paintings I investigated and demonstrated that our perception of Cartesian perspectivalism could be confounded by specific visual characteristics such as specular highlights and the Lacanian Gaze when perceived through what Norman Bryson termed ‘Proximal space’.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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